Hi
I've a pair of B&W 683S2 and are looking for stronger amp to drive them. I've read alot of good stuff about people using the CROWN amps XLS series in their home theater.
What would be the best match for my 683S2:
SPEAKER SPECIFICATIONS:
• Sensitivity: 89dB/2.83V/m.
• Harmonic distortion (second and third harmonics, 90dB, 1m): <1.0%, 95Hz–22kHz; <0.5%, 120Hz–20kHz.
• Impedance: 8 ohms nominal, 3 ohms minimum.
• Recommended amplification: 25–200W into 8 ohms on unclipped program.
► AMPLIFIER OPTION 1: CROWN XLS 1502
• Class D
• Power rating: 2x 775 W/ 2 Ohm, 2x 525 Watt/ 4 Ohm, 2x 300 W/ 8 Ohm, bridged 1x 1550 W/ 4 Ohm, bridged 1x 1050 W/ 8 Ohm
• 24 dB Linkwitz Riley crossover
• Input sensitivity 1.4 or 0.775 V
► AMPLIFIER OPTION 2: CROWN XLS 2502
• Class D
• Power: 2x 1200 W / 2 Ohm, 2x 775 W / 4 Ohm, 2x 440 W / 8 Ohm, bridged 1x 2400 W / 4 Ohm, bridged 1x 1550 W / 8 Ohm
• 24 dB Linkwitz-Riley crossover
• Input sensitivity 1.4 or 0,775 V
Both amps are specified to go well above the recommendation 200W. Will the 2x440W do a better jobb than 2x300W? Is it worth the 200$ extra?
I'm not technical at all.
I've a pair of B&W 683S2 and are looking for stronger amp to drive them. I've read alot of good stuff about people using the CROWN amps XLS series in their home theater.
What would be the best match for my 683S2:
SPEAKER SPECIFICATIONS:
• Sensitivity: 89dB/2.83V/m.
• Harmonic distortion (second and third harmonics, 90dB, 1m): <1.0%, 95Hz–22kHz; <0.5%, 120Hz–20kHz.
• Impedance: 8 ohms nominal, 3 ohms minimum.
• Recommended amplification: 25–200W into 8 ohms on unclipped program.
► AMPLIFIER OPTION 1: CROWN XLS 1502
• Class D
• Power rating: 2x 775 W/ 2 Ohm, 2x 525 Watt/ 4 Ohm, 2x 300 W/ 8 Ohm, bridged 1x 1550 W/ 4 Ohm, bridged 1x 1050 W/ 8 Ohm
• 24 dB Linkwitz Riley crossover
• Input sensitivity 1.4 or 0.775 V
► AMPLIFIER OPTION 2: CROWN XLS 2502
• Class D
• Power: 2x 1200 W / 2 Ohm, 2x 775 W / 4 Ohm, 2x 440 W / 8 Ohm, bridged 1x 2400 W / 4 Ohm, bridged 1x 1550 W / 8 Ohm
• 24 dB Linkwitz-Riley crossover
• Input sensitivity 1.4 or 0,775 V
Both amps are specified to go well above the recommendation 200W. Will the 2x440W do a better jobb than 2x300W? Is it worth the 200$ extra?
I'm not technical at all.
Hi! The 1502 has enough power. You don't necessarily need the built in DSP. It could be handy for room corrections, but if you are not the technical type this might rather be an option for desaster.
FWIW: I am using a Crown XTi on my subwoofer and have used it full range as well and found it lacking a bit of "audiophile" qualities. Seeing that the XTi and XLS series are in the same price range maybe they "sound the same"? Maybe it's worth looking into another option without DSP that might give you a higher quality amplifier section for the same money.
FWIW: I am using a Crown XTi on my subwoofer and have used it full range as well and found it lacking a bit of "audiophile" qualities. Seeing that the XTi and XLS series are in the same price range maybe they "sound the same"? Maybe it's worth looking into another option without DSP that might give you a higher quality amplifier section for the same money.
I used an XLS1502 for my passive speakers. Imo it's have more than enough power for that B&W. Yeah, the sound quality may not what you seek, try it before you buy. The XLS DSP is very basic, not even capable of room correction, only very basic crossover function with LR4 slopes only.
Ahh, in my setup, the RCA input was totally noisy, the XLR was good.
Ahh, in my setup, the RCA input was totally noisy, the XLR was good.
Crown XLS 1502
My Crown XLS 1502 is very quiet. I have 4 ohm speakers and even after long listening sessions its barely even turning and still quiet. I'm so glad the fan is quiet. My other amp that I had was a Yamaha P-7000s and that fan never came on! I thought it was broken. The worst was an Mackie FRS-1700, as soon as you turned it on it was loud that you can hear across the room. Nice sounding amp but too noisy so I sold it.
My Crown XLS 1502 is very quiet. I have 4 ohm speakers and even after long listening sessions its barely even turning and still quiet. I'm so glad the fan is quiet. My other amp that I had was a Yamaha P-7000s and that fan never came on! I thought it was broken. The worst was an Mackie FRS-1700, as soon as you turned it on it was loud that you can hear across the room. Nice sounding amp but too noisy so I sold it.
BTW, The Crown XLS 1502 is a very nice sounding amp for the money. The only thing is it sounds like crap straight out of the box, so I let mine break in for 100hrs. Wow, what a difference in sound, nothing like when it was first hooked up. I let it go on breaking in, after 300 hrs. this was one really nice sounding amp that came pretty close to my VTA-120. The VTA 120 is a very nice sounding amp too!
One per side is another option.
I have seen them used with one per side running with the internal xover/DSP for the upper and lower end for speakers with no xovers and sound pretty good.
Running them in bridge mode gives you a lot power so yes, the dynamics and effortless sound and more life like SQ to a system/speaker. Some speakers love extra power but not to blast away at high volumes. I had a pair of Vandersteen 3A's and I was lent a pair of Classe M700 Monoblocks. I thought this was way too much power (700 watt per amp) for the Vandersteens but they sound better than they ever had, I was really surprise how they liked the extra power. I just had to be careful not to leave the volume up when playing LP's or changing sources without turning down the volume. One drop of the needle or loud blast on another source would probably have damaged the drivers of the Vandersteens.
Right now my Crown XLS 1502 is putting out over 550 watts due to my speakers being 4 ohms. I do have a brand new XLS 2502 that is still in the box unopened and I am going to see what that will sound like in my system pushing over 700 watts to each speaker. I will have to careful again not to leave the volume up when changing sources on the system/preamp.
Good luck!
I have seen them used with one per side running with the internal xover/DSP for the upper and lower end for speakers with no xovers and sound pretty good.
Running them in bridge mode gives you a lot power so yes, the dynamics and effortless sound and more life like SQ to a system/speaker. Some speakers love extra power but not to blast away at high volumes. I had a pair of Vandersteen 3A's and I was lent a pair of Classe M700 Monoblocks. I thought this was way too much power (700 watt per amp) for the Vandersteens but they sound better than they ever had, I was really surprise how they liked the extra power. I just had to be careful not to leave the volume up when playing LP's or changing sources without turning down the volume. One drop of the needle or loud blast on another source would probably have damaged the drivers of the Vandersteens.
Right now my Crown XLS 1502 is putting out over 550 watts due to my speakers being 4 ohms. I do have a brand new XLS 2502 that is still in the box unopened and I am going to see what that will sound like in my system pushing over 700 watts to each speaker. I will have to careful again not to leave the volume up when changing sources on the system/preamp.
Good luck!
You realize that you are not pushing that much power unless the input voltage matches the gain setting, right? That is continuous RMS power. I'm betting you aren't even pushing a quarter of that power.
Wolf
I have one XLS 1502 driving my Dynaudio C1. Sounds quite good, did you find any improvement with XLS 2502?, Or is it worth to buy 2nd 1502 and use them as a mono block.
Yeah, it is not basically only the power figures, base of that question was reviews in ASR:
1502:
Review and Measurements of Crown XLS 1502 Amp | Audio Science Review (ASR) Forum
2502:
Crown XLS2502 Stereo Amplifier Review | Audio Science Review (ASR) Forum
So my conclusion is that the power rating is not the only difference.
1502:
Review and Measurements of Crown XLS 1502 Amp | Audio Science Review (ASR) Forum
2502:
Crown XLS2502 Stereo Amplifier Review | Audio Science Review (ASR) Forum
So my conclusion is that the power rating is not the only difference.
That's all okay, but check that little C1 speaker, it simply can't handles thousands or even hundreds of Watts with that typical 6.5" hifi midwoofer, even if it have larger than average voice coil.
i have 7 of these amps.the first generation.2x1000..2x1500..2x2500 and 1x 2000.ten years they are going strong..last winter i recap all 7 with high quality capacitors..i can say only they sound much more better and powerful..i have use them on everything..highs mindbas and bridge on double 18s and double 12s subwoofers on professional basis..only on compresion drivers they are not like class AB amps..i mean not so smooth..otherway is perfect and clear..never heard the fans even is hard pushed..other option is the crown xli series class AB AMPS the same quiet fans and tons of power..the only drawback on them is the cheap crap electrolytics..i recap three of the xli800 with nichicon and panasonics and vouala there it is the sweet smooth class AB sound on the neodymioum drivers..equal to my expensive dynacord and ev amps..
I've own 2 Crown XLS 2502 amps and one Crown XLS 2500. I play in an several jazz ensembles and purchased them for band use. I also own several stereos with Conrad Johnson preamplifiers, Adcom 5802 amplifiers as well as tube amplifiers by Sonic Frontiers. Out of curiosity, I have subjectively compared the Crown amplifiers in these HiFI systems. The speakers are B&W 803s and Martin Logan electrostatics.
To my surprise, the Crown amplifiers sounded neutral. The Adcom and Sonic Frontier amps produced a bit more air and room ambience ( very subtle ).
For what it is worth, my thoughts are the Crown amps would be fine for home theatre and stereo use. If you obsess comparing them to reference amplifiers you likely will hear some differences but these amps are neutral, well designed, run cool and are bullet proof.
One observation. The XLR inputs might be quieter compared to the RCA inputs. My observation is that the RCA inputs seem to be sensitive to cable routing and might pickup noise from AC cords and other component transformers near the amps. The Adcom and Sonic Frontiers did not pick up the noise under the same conditions. Rerouting RCA cables fixed the problem on the Crown amps. Hope this is helpful.
To my surprise, the Crown amplifiers sounded neutral. The Adcom and Sonic Frontier amps produced a bit more air and room ambience ( very subtle ).
For what it is worth, my thoughts are the Crown amps would be fine for home theatre and stereo use. If you obsess comparing them to reference amplifiers you likely will hear some differences but these amps are neutral, well designed, run cool and are bullet proof.
One observation. The XLR inputs might be quieter compared to the RCA inputs. My observation is that the RCA inputs seem to be sensitive to cable routing and might pickup noise from AC cords and other component transformers near the amps. The Adcom and Sonic Frontiers did not pick up the noise under the same conditions. Rerouting RCA cables fixed the problem on the Crown amps. Hope this is helpful.